Want a Diebold DRE? Ballot box? Tamper proof seal? Smart card? Well, Diebold is holding a “Red Hot Summer Sale” and everything must go.

I want to go back to my comments in yesterday’s DVN about the ETC and their report. Prior to the EAC taking over voting system testing and certification from the National Association of State Election Directors the vendors had a direct line to the volunteers who approved and qualified the testing of the voting systems. The vendors wined and dined election officials at gatherings of Secretaries of State, State Election Directors, and the Election Center. They had a close relationship with those who reviewed testing and made the decisions as to whether voting systems should be qualified; and they always were. No wonder voting systems fail with regularity. Now the vendors have lost the ability to influence the system and they don’t like it at all. The jury is still out but our voting systems have to be better for all of the scrutiny they are getting before certification. It’s time to give the vendors a hanky to dry their tears. ...

Last Friday election activist and founder of the Florida Fair Elections Coalition, Susan Pynchon, announced her run for Volusia County Supervisor of Elections. Susan joins Ellen Brodsky, who is running for the same position in Broward County and who is also a member of Florida Fair Elections Coalition.

The vendor’s lobby group, The Election Technology Council (ETC), recently published a report in which they whine about not having the power that they had before the EAC took more control over the voting system testing and certification program. The ETC wants the testing and certification process to be easier for them. They want to be able to engage EAC commissioners and staff in ex parte conversations. And they want a seat at the table on the Technical Guidelines Development Committee. In all cases the EAC has said NO! and today EAC Chair Rosemary Rodriguez has reiterated that NO!, loudly and clearly. We thank the Chair and the rest of the commissioners for taking this stand for the voters. We need well tested voting systems and not voting systems that have been certified just because the testing would take too long....

I have spoken many times in this space about voter registration. People ask where they can go to check their registration or what is the final day for registration in their state. VotersUnite has now provided a data base that tells the voter the final date to register to vote before the general election and who to call to ensure you are still registered. We have also provided information on who to call to find your polling site and some other useful information. ...

A very slow day today. Pay particular interest in the Ohio article today. That story could come from any state in the union. We will have long ballots and long lines in November all over the nation. Voter registration problems will make the lines even longer. All voters need to check their registrations and ensure they are up-to-date. Newly registered voters should check their registrations to ensure they were accepted. ...

Happy Fathers Day to all of the Fathers reading this.

Following last year’s mayoral primary in Bridgeport Connecticut, one Democratic candidate was sure there were problems with the vote totals. He went to court and appealed the loss but the Superior Court found against him. He was still sure so he asked that the case be heard by the state Supreme Court. He was rebuffed. Today the Connecticut Post revealed the results of its investigation. 105 more votes were tallied than voters went to the polls. The state claims it is not unusual for there to be a few more votes than voters in any given polling place because POLL WORKERS MAKE MISTAKES. They have agreed that 105 votes is a bit much so the state is now investigating....

Yes, for all of you paraskavedekatriaphobiacs (fear of Friday the 13th) or triskaidekaphobiacs (fear of the number 13) today is Friday the 13th. But it’s nearly over so all will be well soon.

The Curry Co (New Mexico) Canvass Board approved the final election canvass from the June 4 election today. As a reminder, some memory cards used to transfer tallies from the ES&S op-scan machines to the central-tabulator were corrupted. The county election staff ran tapes from the machines and tallied those to get the final results. When a losing candidate, at the meeting, asked why the county did not rerun the paper ballots she was handed a schedule of how much it would cost her to request a recount. If state law does not allow New Mexico counties to recount ballots when there is an equipment failure then New Mexico law needs to be changed....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Voting systems are tested for federal certification by a “Voting Systems Test Lab” (VSTL) against the voting systems standards. So, one would expect, if a voting system fails to meet the standards it fails testing and cannot be certified. One would expect. However, the voting systems standards give the vendors and the VSTLs an out. B.5 of Appendix B of Volume II of the 2002 VSS and the 2005 VVSG says, “….any uncorrected deficiency that does not involve the loss or corruption of voting data shall not necessarily be cause for rejection.” A Premier voting system was recently recommended for certification by Systest, one of the VSTLs. In the test report Systest reported 79 discrepancies. 77 of those discrepancies were serious but fell within the B.5 “get out of jail free card.” Two of the 79 were serious discrepancies that report loss of data and are not covered by the “get out of jail free card.” Yet the system was recommended for certification and the EAC is considering following that recommendation. (See article immediately below)...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Yesterday I spoke about what may be election fraud in the handling of absentee ballots in Bullock Co., Alabama. Today the District Attorney in Randolph Co. requested an investigation of absentee ballot handling in his county. An investigation is already being carried out in Potter Co. Absentee ballot mishandling appears to be the preferred means of election fraud in Alabama. Clearly this is something that bears our attention going into November.

It is no surprise at all that ES&S investigated problems on their machines used in Faulkner Co., Arkansas, and declared the whole problem was “human error.” However, there was an error in tabulating the votes. That error was not caused by the voter so that error is a violation of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 Section 301(a)(5).

The Secretary of State of Ohio has released a report on the 2008 Primary from last March. The media reports say the primary had some “bumps but went well overall.” In fact, the report ignores problems that even the Secretary described at the time as a “huge problem.” One has to wonder why election officials seem to think they can misrepresent the facts and not be called on it....

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Two unsuccessful candidates for Bullock Co., Alabama, commissioner have requested that the state Attorney General investigate absentee vote irregularities in the June 3 election. Both candidates won by large margins at the polls. In both cases the candidates lost after an unusual number of absentee ballots were cast and the results were just the opposite. One of the winning candidates admitted that he and his family "helped" Bullock County residents apply for absentee ballots, but he claimed it was not done to "break any laws." One has to wonder how much money changed hands from candidate to voter.

That story, and today's other notable voting news items, all linked below...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

State and local primary elections are still ongoing around the country. Tomorrow we have elections in South Carolina, North Dakota, Virginia, and Maine, with early voting beginning for the Utah primary.

Due directly to the failure of the voting system in Faulkner Co., Arkansas, to accurately tabulate votes, citizens will have a ‘town hall’ meeting in Conway to discuss the failures of the system and what steps they can take to force the county and state to fix the system. One suggestion: a formal HAVA complaint for violation of Section 301(a)(5). (See HAVA Section 402(a)(2))...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Sarasota Co Florida Supervisor of Elections, Kathy Dent, intends on holding a mock election which will minimally test the new voting system being purchased by the county. This system has still not been federally certified by the EAC, though that is not a Florida requirement. The county will not test accuracy to ensure use of the voting system complies with the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Instead they will do a minimal test on tabulators, modems, and other parts of the system. How can voters of the county be assured that their voting system is accurate when the system has never been tested to ensure that accuracy?...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Tennessee has joined the growing list of states that require a paper trail for use in recounts and random audits. The governor has signed legislation that requires all systems purchased after Jan. 1 to be precinct-based optical scan systems. We congratulate the Tennessee activists who have made this all happen. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

The Arizona Secretary of State, Jan Brewer, has sent a letter to the Pima County officials complaining about the steps they are proposing to tighten security surrounding elections and vote counting procedures. One proposal from the county is that they no longer send election results via modem to a central location. They want to do as many other security conscious counties across the nation do; have the memory cards physically transported to the county tabulation location. Brewer likes the insecure modems. In truth, Brewer seems to be telling the county that they can’t do things differently because she did not think of the changes herself. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Election officials in Pinellas Co., Florida, were probably very surprised when they inspected their voting machines for malware and found that even though their system is not connected to the internet two bugs, known as Flush.G and W32.SillyDC, were present. There goes the excuse that “our system can’t be hacked (attacked) because it isn’t hooked-up to the internet” excuse.

San Bernardino Co., California, has discovered a ‘bug’ in its central tabulator, known by Sequoia Voting, that does not correctly count the number of precincts.

The ES&S system used in Curry Co, New Mexico, seems to have a ‘glitch.’ Precinct totals in an early voting location were counted more than once.

One voter went to the polls in Los Angeles Co., California, and used the accessible voting system only to find that the system “flipped” his votes in four separate races. ...

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org

Fort Bend Co., Texas, has just hired a new elections director. To prove that the revolving door goes in as well as out the county hired the regional sales manager, account manager, and Illinois state manager for Election Systems & Software.

Pima Co., Arizona, has given in and will be releasing all elections data bases from its Diebold machines going back to 1998. The county has also agreed to pay the opposing attorney for his time and expenses ($228,000)....